Cop Out!

Crime prevention is much better than having to catch criminals.

And while it is a tad harsh to describe people committing certain motoring offences as "criminals", it is better to stop them committing the offences in the first place - hence lots of signs around warning drivers about speed cameras.

So I figured that crime prevention was behind the headline in drive.com.au that reads,

Police thwart speed camera revenue by warning motorists

But when you actually read the story, a very different narrative emerges.

It seems that the local state government enjoy the profits from the speed cameras in question and the Police are happy for motorists to speed because they get caught and pay fines.

Although, at the  moment, they are getting motorists to slow down to cut the income from the fines going to a party that they are in dispute with.  The dispute is, as is often the case, about wage levels and since they can't take strike action, this has proven to work in the past so they are giving it another go.

Apparently, another tactic in the battle is "an automated voice when a police station is phoned" - not sure what the automated voice is going to say but given that the state in question is Victoria, I hope it mentions Victorian Values.

Now, as a bit of a Leftie, I tend to be on the side of the disgruntled employee - and as a motorist, I'm happy to be warned about the presence of speed cameras.  Although, as a Volvo driver, I am concerned about the safety element of wanting people to speed.  Although, if you are going to speed, you need to do it in a safe car like a Volvo.  Although BMWs are safe too - as long as you don't write slogans across the rear window.

Although the biggest take from this story is...

THEY ARE DEFINITLEY SPEED CAMERAS NOT SAFETY CAMERAS.